Get to Know Me: Here’s My Story
Hi, everyone! My name is Sammie, and I’m the founder and owner of Think Outside the Closet, a professional organizing company in Houston, Texas.
I've always had a passion for organizing, but it truly blossomed once I reached high school. I would often just color code my closet for fun. Well, word got around…
I was helping people organize their closets, mostly, but also kitchens, pantries, bathrooms… It was a blast.
It’s Time to Make a Change
I went to UTSA for 3 years before transferring to complete my bachelor’s degree in English from Sam Houston State University in 2013. I then went on to complete my master’s degree in Mass Communication and Public Relations at the University of Houston.
I was in the marketing industry for many years, but bounced around and never really found a place I was passionate about. It was just a job - not a career. It wasn’t something I got excited about doing every day. I never jumped out of bed saying, “Yay! I get to market other people’s businesses today!”
No, it was a job. A means to make money for housing and food.
I felt like I was stuck on a wheel, forever churning out marketing content - but for what? I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t fulfilled.
Fast forward to 2020. The COVID pandemic had hit and my current company was allowing us to work from home. It had been a long day, and I had just wrapped up my work.
So I sat down on the couch with a bowl of soup and turned on Netflix. A new show caught my eye: The Home Edit.
Ooh, I was obsessed with shows like this! HGTV-style shows are my JAM. I always loved going to the doctor because they had it on in the waiting room.
So I was watching The Home Edit on Netflix when it hit me: I was already doing exactly what they were doing - but without getting paid for it.
Why wasn't I doing this already?!
At that moment, I knew I had to start my own business.
Why I Do What I Do
Above all else, at that moment I had decided to start my own business, I knew I wanted to help people - all kinds of people - but especially those with disabilities.
I wanted to focus on:
helping people
making their lives easier
making a positive difference in people's lives
helping people take control and increase their independence and confidence in themselves
My passion for accessibility is actually informed by my own experience with disability.
I started suffering from intense, chronic pain in my right foot when I was in high school. I went to six different doctors, tried multiple medications and treatment plans, and even had a surgery - and nothing helped. Doctors threw up their hands, completely stumped. It wasn’t until much later that I was diagnosed with CRPS (Chronic Regional Pain Syndrome). You can learn more about this condition at RSDS.org.
My foot swelled up to the size of a football and I was in agony. It felt like I was on fire every minute of every day.
During my worst years with CRPS, I encountered HUGE barriers everywhere I went. I was at university then. The world around me was no longer friendly, accessible, and full of possibilities. I had lost my independence and I was only 19 years old.
Everything was harder.
I had to ask someone else to get the peanut butter out of the cabinet for me so I could make a sandwich for lunch.
I couldn’t reach the top rod in my closet, so I only had access to half of my wardrobe. Otherwise, I had to keep things scattered around the floor or stuff way too many things into drawers that were already full.
I was often late for class due to the school cutting bus service to the dorms. I was wheeling myself up and down hills across campus every day, in immense pain and utterly exhausted.
If it was raining, I’d get soaked because I couldn’t hold an umbrella and wheel myself.
I had to ask other people to open doors for me, as the school had no automatic door opening buttons.
I couldn’t make it to the bathroom by myself because the door wasn’t wide enough for my wheelchair.
Sidewalks wouldn’t be level and would send me flying out of my chair if I didn’t notice.
Most local businesses didn’t allow enough room for wheelchairs to fit through aisles or even to get in the door at all!
I couldn’t visit some areas of campus because they only had stairs, and no other way to access the space if you were in a wheelchair.
I was even placed in a second story dorm with no ramp or elevator. When I complained, campus housing said they were full up and I’d just have to figure it out. I saw another disabled student dragging themselves down the dorm stairs by their arms. I sometimes had to ask my roommates to carry me downstairs to get to class.
On my worst days when I couldn’t get out the door because of my pain levels, my classes were not accessible. None of my professors offered virtual alternatives to being physically in class, so I would just be forced to take an absence - and later shamed for all my absences that I couldn’t control.
Meanwhile, some people called me "inspirational" for continuing to go to school during all this, for continuing to traverse the barriers society had put up against me. For “being strong” while everything sucked so much.
This enraged me. I didn't want to be inspiring; I wanted those barriers REMOVED.
It was infuriating and so dehumanizing to see the people around me lift me up as this pinnacle of inspiration and yet at the same time, not advocate for increasing accessibility to equalize us.
I felt utterly helpless. I was sick of having to ask people for help all the time. I was sick of looking like a weak little bird. I was sick of being referred to as “the girl in the chair.” I wanted to take my independence and control back.
But all these barriers were in my way. Society’s lack of accessibility told me NO.
So I had to get creative.
If the world around me was going to tell me no, I was going to do the same thing right back. I was not going to accept a lack of accessibility.
I advocated with the campus transportation board to restore bus service to dorms and add wheelchair accessible buses, as well as increase disabled parking throughout the campus. I also recommended they add ramps or elevators to every single dorm building. EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Why should I have to sit around and accept the bare minimum when everyone else gets to access 100% of the world around them? I refuse to accept anything less than equality, and that’s why I went in there and demanded it.
Unfortunately, my voice was ignored and the renovations were never made to the campus.
Again, another barrier in my way. And that’s where I got to thinking - how can I fix this WITHOUT asking other people for help? How can I do this on my own?
At that moment, I realized I had to take control and make my own solutions for myself.
Taking Back Control
Remember that closet I couldn’t use half of? I ended up getting a reach pole from a local retail store - you know, those things they use to access hangers with clothes on really high racks?
It made it way easier to grab stuff off the top rod. And it was free - the store gave me one just to be kind.
I was opening up the world for myself again. It may not seem like a big deal to get that closet rod back, but it was HUGE to me.
I took control of my laundry routine.
I took the waist tie out of my bathrobe and tied one end to my wheelchair, and the other to my rolling laundry basket.
That way, I could push my wheelchair while carrying laundry.
No more piles of laundry on my lap, constantly falling off of me and getting dirty on the ground. No more asking people for help to carry my laundry to the facility. Just the ability to restore some normalcy to my life - WITHOUT ASKING FOR HELP.
I took control of my kitchen and was finally able to cook again thanks to a revolving bar stool from Amazon. You can find this bar stool by clicking here.
The cost of major home modifications was out of my price range, so I got creative.
Instead of spending thousands of dollars on expensive kitchen construction, I went the in-between route: finding affordable solutions to make my life and spaces more accessible and enjoyable.
I ordered a revolving, adjustable height bar stool, which allowed me to transfer out of my wheelchair at the same height, and then adjust it to meet the countertop.
I could chop, slice, and cook with ease! If I needed to turn around to grab some spices, the chair revolved 360 degrees. Plus, my able-bodied partner could still use the kitchen without having to bend down to reach wheelchair-height counters.
I saved thousands of dollars with this little accessibility hack - which sparked an idea: what if I could do this for others?
And so, Think Outside the Closet was born.
Through my suffering, I gained a unique perspective into what it’s like to live with a disability every day.
I want to help people who have suffered just like me to make their world more accessible WITHOUT having to spend thousands of dollars on home renovations to do it.
I want to give people creative solutions that make their lives easier, that put the control back in their hands where it belongs and give them their independence back.
So that’s my story.
My aim is to organize spaces with YOU in mind, no matter what your home looks like, how big or small it is, or what your challenges may be. In a perfect world, every home, business, and space would be accessible to everyone, but until then, I want to fill those gaps with affordable organizing solutions for people of all abilities.
You SHOULDN’T have to give up your independence just because you have a disability. And you SHOULDN’T have to spend thousands of dollars to get the same enjoyment out of your home as able-bodied homeowners get.
Take control of your home. Take control of your life.
